Clippers guard Patrick Beverley, left, and Montrezl Harrell celebrate after they beat the Golden State Warriors during Game 2 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series in Oakland. Beverley said during an appearance on ESPN that he turned down a three-year, $50 million offer from the Sacramento Kings in part so he could continue playing with teammates Harrell and Lou Williams. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

“I never like to downplay any other team … in L.A.,” Clippers guard Patrick Beverley said, with the slightest of pauses, during an appearance Tuesday afternoon on ESPN’s “The Jump.”

“But you know,” he added, “medical team, coach, players, top to bottom, you have to go with the Clippers. You have to. It’s ownership. And it’s no disrespect to anybody else, but top to bottom, they do the right things consistently, all the time.”

“Nah,” Beverley continued, in response to whether he had an official part in the Clippers’ pitch to Leonard, a two-time NBA champion. “I just think if you’re a player in this league and you played against us, you know what we bring. We’re gonna play hard and we’re gonna leave it on the line.

“You want to go glitz and glamour, that’s fine. (Or) you want to come and get your hands dirty and do some dirty work?”

The Clippers claimed McGruder, a 6-foot-4 guard, off waivers last April after he was let go by the Miami Heat. The Clippers picked him up even though it was well past March 1, the last day a player can be waived by one team and remain postseason eligible for another team, leaving McGruder off the Clippers’ postseason roster.

Nonetheless, he was with the team during the playoffs, traveling to Oakland for their first-round series with the Golden State Warriors.

By claiming him, the Clippers attained his early Bird rights (which will allow them to exceed the salary cap). The signing won’t affect the Clippers’ ability to sign a player such as Leonard to a max contract, as McGruder’s $3 million free agent hold already was factored into the available max slot.

It’s no secret that Beverley prefers to be up to the elbows in dirty work, and so he said it wasn’t a difficult decision to re-sign with the Clippers – even for $10 million less than the Sacramento Kings offered.

He said his bond with Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams – whose $8 million contract for 2020-21 the Clippers agreed to guarantee a season early, the Athletic reported Tuesday – made it worth Beverley’s while to come back.

Teammates, and legacy.

“Defensive Player of the Year. I want to get that,” Beverley, 30, said. “And I thought in order to get that, I had to go with the Clippers, that was the best road.”

Clippers rookies Mfiondu Kabengele and Terance Mann have just arrived, but in their first meeting with the media Monday, they spoke like they have a sense of what Beverley was saying.

“They’re really cool,” added forward Mfiondu Kabengele, who the Clippers traded up to draft 27th, about his first front office: “I had dinner with them, just talking with them, and they’re very welcoming, they’re open. Any questions I had, whether it be how they visualize using me, they’re honestly transparent. They mentioned how they’re going to give me a chance … and that’s all I need – opportunity. I’m gonna put in the work.”

As a show of appreciation for all of Williams’ work this past season – which was heavy on history and highlights and resulted in his third Sixth Man of the Year Award – the Clippers guaranteed his deal early.

Like Beverley, Williams also hasn’t been shy about promoting the Clippers organization, recently offering a spontaneous recruiting pitch in a TMZ video: “He’s already a California kid anyway. The love is already there. He’s got an opportunity to do something special, he already has a legacy, already a big-time baller in his own right. So, for him to have an opportunity to do his thing in the state of California should be dope for him.”

If the Clippers do land Leonard, they’ll join the other teams that have made splashes since free agency began Sunday afternoon.

Chief among them: the Brooklyn Nets, who successfully recruited All-Stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving – and also reportedly have agreed to sign a pair of former Clippers, in addition to longtime Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, who agreed to terms with them on Sunday.

In addition to veteran guard Garrett Temple, who Sunday agreed to a two-year, $10 million deal with the Nets, Brooklyn will bring aboard Wilson Chandler, who also joined the Clippers at the trade deadline last season.

Chandler, a 32-year-old forward who started his career 12 seasons ago in New York with the Knicks, agreed to a one-year deal with the Nets, per Haynes. In 15 games with the Clippers, Chandler averaged 4.3 points and 3.1 assists.

Mirjam Swanson covers the Clippers, the NBA and the LA Sparks for the Southern California News Group. Previously, she wrote about LeBron James and the rest of the Dream Team at the 2004 Olympics (where, yes, they took bronze), Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open on one leg, and had a tour reporting on city government, education and the occasional bear in a backyard.

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